* 



E 422 

.G15 i^ A SKETCH 

Copy 1 * OF 

THE PERSONAL CHARACTER AND QUALITIES 

GENERAL UCHARY TAYLOR. 

^^ ^ _ __ 

By Joseph "^ales, Esq. of the National Intelligencer. 
) I — 

We have no design to undertake a Biography of quired lor him the attachment of all who served 
Gen. Tatlou : that duty has been already executed with him. 

by abler hands. Nor yet shall we presume to an-j Passing over the intermediate part of his military 
alyze his military merit: that is a point upon which ; career, we must hasten to the period when his or- 
the public judgment is alread) satisfied. Ours bejders from the War Department placed him in com- 
the more gatet'ul occupation of grouping in one pic-jmand in a wider field, and charged him with duties 
ture those traits of his personal character and quali-ithe execution of which brought him at once in ful! 
ties which attract towards him the respectful and view before us. We refer, of course, to the time 
even affectionate regards of those who, like us, de- of his assuming the command of the forces gathered 
sire to find, in their candidate for such an office as together ostensibly to protect the frontier of Texas, 
the Presidency, some other recommendation than 'but destined afterwards to a more active and dan- 
the most brilliant and well-earned military fame. jgerous service. 

Not that we shall, or can, overlook cither the ; Let us pay our first respects to him in his encamp- 
military history or the military merit of the General, j ment at Corpus Christi, some weeks after it was es- 
He cannot be separated from them. Nor need any jtablished, on a sandy beach of three miles in length, 
friend of his desire that he should; for they become ^without a tree or a shrub to ward oflf the noon day 
him worthily. The garrison, the march, the camp, rays of an almost vertical sun. On approaching 
the battle field, have been scenes in which he has! the headquarters of the General, consisting of a 
exhibited, all his Hfe long, qualities which command 'single wall-tent, one is struck with the simple and 
respect. He has not, perhaps, in the midst of his severe soldier-hke aspect of all its surroundings. On 
arduous public service, sacrificed to the Graces as visiting the General, we are met by a frank hearty 
successfully as some have done who take exception welcome from one whose simplicity of attire would 
to the plainness of his dress and simplicity of his j not have designated him, in the groupe from which 
manners. He is in truth no "carpet knight." But .he issues, as the Commander of that gallant little 
he is what ought to make him a hundred times ^ army. This, however, is Gen. Taylor. The first 
more acceptable to the People; he is, beyond all interview with him convinces you that he is a kind- 
doubt or question, a good and honest man. I hearted gentleman, "all of the olden time;" an im- 
Though we have never, that we know of, met prcssion which every day's further intercourse would 
Gen. Taylor face to face, he is yet a very old acjhave confirmed, with the additional conviction of 
quaintance of ours. It is just six and thirty years ! his frankness and decision of character, 
ago, at the moment when the heart of the country | As the season advanced and the temperature of 
was depressed by Hull's sunendcr of his army atithe night air became cooler, a large "camp fire" 
Detroit, that news was received in this city of the j would blaze forth every evening in front of the Gene- 
successiul defence of Fort Harrison by General ral's tent, and here might always be found assembled 
(then Captain) Zachart Taylor, against a vastly ' officers from the highest to the lowest in grade,, 
Superior force of Indians, under circumstances | sometimes in larger and sometimes in smaller bodies,^., 
which rendered resistance almost hopeless, but seated as best they could, listening to and contribut- - 
which the then young but indomitable courage and'ing to the recitals which such gatherings would na-- 
energy of our (Captain enabled him to overcome. | turally call forth. All would be welcome, and re- 
The effect of this news was such as can hardly bejceived with unaffected good nature. This promis- - 
realized at the present day, when the imagination] cuous aird free intercourse would strike youmosti 
has become familiar with war on a grander scale; j favorably ; for, whilst every man was expected to do 
but it turned the whole current of public feeling at his duty, no one seemed so anxious in the hours of 
once, and inspired new confidence in the ability of] relaxation to promote the comfort and happiness of 
our arms to maintain the defence of the then feeble jail as the Commanding General. How well hesuc- 
and sparsely populated frontier. For this gallant jceeded can be best answered by the fact, that, du- 
exploit Mr. Madison conferred on young Taylor j ring the entire campaign, no one of "the 014 
the Brevet of Major, the first brevet conferred in Guard" was ever heard to speak of the General 
the war of 1812, and now the oldest in the army, jotherwise than in terms of friendship. To the sick 
From that day the name of Taylor has ever held^hc was uniformly kind and attentive; and no officer 
a secure place in our memory, though it had not, had the misfortune to appear on the sick list with- 
tintil the time of his taking charge of the "Army out receiving a visit from the Genend. 
of Observation," often met our view. We knew. The taking possession of Corpus Christi was the 
however, tliat during the whole time he was almost first act in the drama of this war ; and, this first 
always upon hard duty, and performed it well; es- movement having been lost sight of in the more 
pecially in the harassing Black Hawk war, and in 'stirring events, the credit due to that undertaking 
the Florida war; in which last he distinguished i has not, we think, been duly awarded, 
himself no fcss by his gallantry and by his success The army, never exceeding four thousand strong, 
in battle, than by a personal depo rtment which ac- 1 w as hastily gathered together from the four quarters 
^"roint'Ue National intelligencer of September 167T848. 



PERSOIfAL CHARACTEK AND QUALITIES . (^| {^ 



d the fore- 
hich cxecu- 



,5^ country, and in small detachments, with the quences of those battles, the judgment an 
/-^ceplion of the "Army of Observation'" which had .sight wliich dicUitcd, and the decision wh 

been posted near the Sabine. The troops compos- ted them, have been scarcely noticed at all. The 
inc the latter army, arriving at St. Joseph's, (a de-islory of the achievements of the army under the 
solate island on the coast of Texas)— the unexplored Ger;eral's f-ommand is all that seems to have been 
Arans-6 bay intervening between it and Corpus] much cared for: though, when the actual achieve- 
Chrisli— it was no easy matter to move onward: for, 'nicntscomfe to be compared with the obstacles over- 
in the haste and hurry of the inovemint, the v.-rfnt come and the evils warded off by them, it will be 
of prooer boats and other facilities, and the absolute seen that the objects accomphshed by these victories 
want ofknowledo-eof the countrv, the extreme heat were as substantial as the battles themselves were 
of the climate, b^d weather, and" a midtitude of ob- brilliant. In reference to the position in vvhich 
stacles came in thick arrav, to prove that the opera- Gen. Tataor is now placed, almost agamst his wdl, 
tion was no holyday pa'slime. Decision, indeed, as a candidate before the People for the Chief Ma- 
and energy and courage of no ordinary kind, were gistracy, the soundness of judgment which he dis- 
called into requi-^ition. Companies and detachments played, on all occasions, durmg liis campaigns m 
were pushed afloat a.s best they could be— the land- Mexico, is of cvan more interest to the country than 
'm^ at Corpus Christi effected without loss— and the his n;allant:y in the field, a quality more cr less par- 
nucleus of that army fiirpied, which, without other taken with him by all the Officers and nearly all the 
aid, fought and gloriously won tiie battles of the 8th Privates, Volunteers as well as Regulars, under lijs 
and 9th° of the following May, the first, and, in command. ^ , y ' x" ♦ 

their influence, the most important foughtin Mexico. The oljtd of Gen. Taylok s march jrnm t ort 
It was the energy of Gen. Tati.«r that achieved, Brown (m front of Matamoros) to Point Isabel, in 
this first step. ^' t^'' opening of the war, was to procure provision for 

\t Corous Christi the first object was to organize his forces His determination to march lack to 
a train fnr the transportation of the supplies of the Fort Brown (the enemy under Arista having passed 
arinv. This object, under that most able Quarter- the Rio Grande and placed himseli between the two 
master General, the late Col. Cnoss, was accom- parts of our army) was to save the garrison of that 
pUshed with all dispatch- Mules and oxen had to fort. With this resolution, he wrote to the War 
be found, purchased, and broken to harness, and the Department, under date of the 7th of May, that he 
wa"-ons to be procured in the United States. To was about to set out on his return to Fori Brown, 
the'^former part of this business Gen. Tatlok gave and that, if the Mexicans opposed his march, in 
his constant attention, and he might be seen every whatever force, he should fight them. On that 
morni g after an early breakfast, riding to the march, the following day, he did meet them at Palo 
Quartermaster".- depot to inspect the cattle offere.? Alto, and beat them. All knew that the contest 
for sale Every economy was exercised; and pro- , would not end there, and that another coiifiict must 
bably no Commissary General ever had a closer eye take place before the object of the march was effe^- 
tlian the Commander of the Army to the Govern- ed. Doubts were entertained by many ol the offi- 
n^ent purse strings. Critically exact and econoini- ;cer.^ in Gen Taylor's army about the ability of go 
cal ui his private affairs, the General was no less so small a force to advance safely against so large a one 
with those of the Go^crnment. ;of the enamy. The oljtd of the march, the sal- 

When orders reached Corpus Christi for the- vation of the garrison ot Fort Brown, outweighed 
movement on the Rio Grande, little delay ensued in the GeneraPs mind evcr>- considerati n of danger, 
before the army was under wav. The long trains The advance was determined upon, the battle of 
moved up to their respective (■■■lumns, as day after Resaca fought and won, the garrison of Fort Brown 
day the army was put in motion, in the most perfect rescued, and the Admidistration saved from disgrace, 
and serviceablv order. It was an interesting spec For it is much to be doubted whether, li.ui General 
taclc </iatfirstraovementofthearmy, after a domi- Taylor /£/(7frf on the Rio Grande— had his army 
ciliation on the plains of Corpus Christi of some 'been destroyed or compelled to capitulate— v.hether 
seven months The last tent struck on that occa- an army of sufficient force could have been as easily 
^ slon'was that of the Commanding General he hav- raised in the TTnited States to face Uic Mexicans, 
\ inir to the lanf, assured himsi'lf that all was right, flushed with victory, with Sasita Anna (a General 
and then by forced marches reached, on the second of never failing resources and energy) at i;nir head, 
niffhl after iU departure, the advanced column, an4;as it could be, after Taylor's glorious victories, 
: ?. when the whole country was inspirited by them. 

The principal army stores of the Ordnance, Quar and all that our volunteers had to do was to go to 
terma6t£r and Commissariat were tran.sported by .Mexico and take a share in them. But lor these 
sea to Point Isabel: and so judicious was the com- early s«cccsses, the result of Taylor s ngnt judg- 
bined movement, that the flotilla and army arrived, inent and resolute will, the Mexican War might 
as it were at the same moment: and the next nwr7i- have lieen a series of disasters, instea.l of the uu- 
in'r at duvhreak, the latter, with renewed supplies, broken succession of victories that it was. 
was enabled to move on tlie Rio Grande, and all' After these battles, and reistabli.shmg his camp 
thin-s arranged for the establishment and defence of opposite Matamoros, Gen. Taylor, with a sinall 
a errand depot at Point Isabel. So well-timed were escort, returned to Point Isabel to meet Com. Cos- 
all of the arrangements, that not a moment was IosiUer and that portion of his squadron tliat had on 
in carrying out the orders of the Government. It [land co-operated with the detachment left for the 
was a perfect co-operation by sea and land. defence of Point Isabel; and it was on this occasion 

We now approach the actual scenes of War. that was manifested the first evidence of that enthti- 

Much as has l)cen said of the battles won by Gen. jsiastic feeling towards the General which afterwards 
Tailor in Mexico, the particular objects and coasc-ifiUcd so many breasts. 



«=^ 



or GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



■0 
^O 

> _______ 

A point of etiquette ai-ose as to the propriety — ' would have made the line of operations, from the 
' 0^ ■ for he would not arrive until after tattoo — of receiv- ; mouth of the Rio Grande to Camargr, thence to San 
" ing the General with any demonstrations of joy. Louis Potosi, and on to the city of Mexico, not less 
0^ But this was no time for etiquette. His approach than tifteeu or eighteen hundred miles; would have 
had been heralded, and already the parapets were required a hundred thousand men to keep it open; 
lined with Jack tars, eager for the first glimpse of the ■ and would have cost us ten times as many men as it 
old Hero; and, as he "hove in sight," or rather be- subsequently did to effect the same operation through 
came tangible, for it was too dark to see, the spon- Vera Cniz; whilst it would have given us credit, at 
taneous and heartfelt cheers of the "combined the same time, for the most stupendous military blun- 
forces,-' as one voice, proclaimed that he was "first der. How fortunate was it not that our Military 
in the hearts" of those who greeted lam. | Cabinet paused midway in their career, and, after 

The General was realli/ overcome by this ur.ex- reflection, consulted the able General at the head of 
pected demonstraiion; and, as he sat 'in the rude the army — Major General Scott— as to further pro- 
Mexican hut to which he had been conducted, sur-'cecJings in the war, and then adopted the wiser plan 
rounded by all who could squeeze their way to his' oi approaching the capital through '^'era Cruz! 
presence, never was seen a more truthftd personifi- With the details of the battle of Buena Vista every 
cation of modesty. He seemed brooding over some reader is too familiar to leave us any excuse for here 
sad event, rather than elated at his own great deeds, reciting them. No one is ignorant under what odds 
The sailors suiTOunded his quarters, and it is doubt-' and disadvantages it was fought, and how a host of 
ful whether there was one of those live hundred twenty thousand men were beaten in fair fight by an 
brave fellows who did not shake him by the hand, army of less than five thousand, four-fifths of that 
His stay on this visit was short; but he improved number being volunteers. The result of that une- 
the occa.-ion to vLsit and cheer up the wounded, and qual engagement, which electrified the whole Nation, 
to direct all that could be done to make them com- ; surprised our own Government, and astonished even 
fortable. ' ' ' Europe, her state men and her generals of a hundred 

The General returned to Matamoros as quietly and battle-fields, was due yet more to the confidence 
as unostentatiously as he came. It was there that he which the army had in its commander, founded upon 
received the deputation from Louisiana to congratu-'a knowledge of his character, than to the skill of his 
late him upon the battles he had won. But no gratu ■ dispositions and the native valor of the comparatively 
lations seemed in the shghtest degree to excite his i raw troops of which his army was composed. In- 
vanity. He was, from first to last, the same ZiCH-lstcad of narrating the incidents of that memorable 
AHr Tai'lok.* jconflict, lot us, in order to form some idea of its trans- 

We find that we must abridge. ! cendant importance, recur for a moment to the cir- 

After the victories of Palo Alto and Rosacea, thekumstances in which Gen. Taylor was placed, and 
Administration, elated by their military exploits, de- J under which the battle was fought, 
termined to penetrate the vitals of Mexico hy taking' V\'hen, under the advice of the General-in-chief of 
Montere}^ calculating perhaps thereby to bring about the Army, the plans of the Administration were 
a Peace upon such terms as thcv should dictate. ; changed, the attempt to rea;-h th- city of Mexico by 
After the capture of that city, however, finding that: the inland route abandoned, the route by Vera Cruz 
the Mexicans were yet not disposed to sue for peace, 'determined upon, and the regular troops, whom Gen. 
a stroke at the capital, through San Louis Potosi,|TATLOu had accustomed to conquest, were necessa- 
was meditated. Had this design been carried out, it |rily almo.st all withdrawn from his command to 

I strengthen Gen. Scott, the whole country saw at 

* We caauot refuse to ourselves the gratification of j ^^^^ ^j^^ -^^ j„ ^,[^-pj^ tj^^ for„^er was placed. No 
givrng to our readers the fo lowing atahenlic account,; .' , , , i •„ ,ip k uk;i„ oi 

by the Committee from Loui.iana%vhich wa.s charged I one saw it more clearly than himself. " \\ hde a - 
with llic duty of presenting the General with a^word,i most every man of my regular force and halt t!ie vol- 
&c., of thairinierview wiili him, as affording a Dagner j untecrs (now in respectable discipline) are withdrawn 
otype portrait of Gen. Tavlor and his habitudes in I for distant service," said he in an otncial letter of 
camp: Ijanuary l.'i, 1817, to the Commander-in-Chipf, "it 

" We pie.sented ourselves at the opening of one of the | ^^^^^^^ ^j^.^^ j ^^ expected, with less than a thousand 
tents, before which was standing a dragoons horse, i i -ir , , »■ .i «• „„^ i„.,;„„ 

mncll u^ed by hard service. Upon a C:un°. stool at our Regulars and Volu.itcer force partly of new levies. 

left sal Gen. , in busy conversation with a hearty 1 to hokl a defensive hne, while a large army Ot more 

lookinu old gentleman sitting on a box cushioned withjthan twenty thousand men is 'n my front." "I/eet 
aa Arkansas litanket, dressed in Atiakapa.s pantaloons Ui-j^t I have lo.st the confiilence of the Government, 
andaliiun roundabout, and remarkable for a bnghtj ^^j. jj_ ^^^^jj not have suffered me to remain, up to 
flashing eye, a high forehead, a iarmer look, and ' ^''-ghj , . i ^nt of il, intentions, with so vitally 
and read" appearance. It is hnrdlv neces-^arv for us; "' , . ' '^ •^•^,.1. i u . /ul 

to say that this personace was Grn. Tavi.oh, the com- 1 effected interests committed to my charge. But, (he 
manding hero of two of the riio.st remariAable battles on; added,) however muck I feel mortified and outraged 
record, ami the man who, hy his firniiiess and decision ^y the course pursued, unprecedented, at least in our 
of char.icier, has shed '--- •'-- * ■ — ' ' •• , ... .. , <• ..v ■ •!_ t 

rou; 

strew 

ments. We bore to ihe (icneral a coinpliiiieutary ^ 1 - - - • u- 

irora si>me of his fellow- citizens of New Orleans,' to be found in the records of our race than in this 

which he declined receiving for the present, giving at [declaration, followed up, as it was, with such stem- 

the same time a short but • liard sense' lecture on ihej^pg, ^f decision and vigor of action as proveil its 

impropriety of naming children and phn-es after "'eni •. .^ • -^ 

before the V were deid, or of his receiving a present for, „,, "' .,',-^. j-o- ■.• j j ^„ u^ 

Ms services before the campaign, so far as he was con- ! 1 he responsibilities, difficulties, and dangef s by 
cerned, was finished." [which Gen, rAYLoii was now beset may be vrrlcon- 




. J 



PERSONAL CHARACTER AND QUALITIES 



ed, when we bear in mind that at the moment that he should be exposed throughout the engagement 
..hen the General found himself with a body of troops, to the most imminent peril. TAe cZ/awcflS (hesaid) 
nearly all raw, scarcely sulficient to keep up his com wert as ten to one that he should not be a living man 
munication with his depot of supplies at Camargo, at the setting of the sun on the follow'ng day! 
he knew that large supplies, then on the Kio Grande In another. Letter on the eve of the battle, he ex- 
and at theBrasos, must be drawn out by Gen. Scott, pressed himself in even more remarkable terms: 
and that on these supplies depended the success of his " This may," said be, "be ibe last coin munication 
(Gen. S.'s) command, and his advance from Vera you will receive from me. I have been stripped by the 
Cruz. In the midst of ail the anxiety naturally at- (Government of regular troops, and reduced in volun- 
tending his position, he found thatSANTA Ax.v a was teers, and thus slr:pped, and at the mercy of the foe, 
, " o '" 1^ . ' . ,, have been expected by my country to retreat or resign, 

advancing upon his line ot communication with Ca-^ ^^^ j s„^ll do neithkr. I care not for myself, but 
margo and Erases, and that, it he availed himselt ol f^^i deeplit for the noble soldiers who are about to be 
the discretion left to him by instructions from his sucnjictd hi/ their country. We shall stand still 
Government to confine himself to Monterey, he and give TiiiSM battle, relying on a just Provi- 
would be cut olf from his supplies at those points; dence for a right result." 
that they would fall into the hands of the enemy, de- ; And a just Providence did take care of him and those 
priving Gen. Scott of the portion of them that he noble soldiers, and saved them from the snare which, 
required; and that then, if he could do such a thing, designedly or not, their own Government had set for 
he himself would be forced, for want of supplies, at them! 

last to surrender! He then had to choose between i After the battle of Buena Vista, Gen. Taylor 
two alternatives, either of which would have been passed through Monterey, but only stopped in the 
sufficiently appalling to most men: he mn&iadvance town long enough to dine; for he cared not for the 
with a body of troops, of which four-tifths were vol- honors which all were ready to pay to him. 'I'hough 
unteers who had not long been embodieil, to opfo^e absolutely worn out by fatigue, he after dinner re- 
five times their number of the best Mexican troops mounted his old charger and proceeded most quietly 
under Santa Anna; or he must retreat io Monterey, to the repose of his old camp. 

He knew that, if the first course was taken and he The interval between the battles of Monterey and 
proved successful, he would preserve his line of com Buena Vista, and his ultimate departure from Mexi- 
munication with the Rio Grande and save his army co, was spent by Gen. Tat lor chiefly at his camp 
from inevitable disaster; and that, if defeated, the near Monterey. And here it was, after all the excit- 
only ditfcrence between his position then, and that in ing events oa that Une had ended, and those on the 
which he would have found himself after a retreat to line from Vera Cruz to Mexico were succt ssfully ad- 
Monterey, would be, that in the one case he was de- vancing — and when, too, every mail from the States 
feated in battle, whilst in the other he was starved in came freighted with adulation from almost every 
to a surrender. That Gen. Taylor perfectly under- source, and presages of pohtical elevation sufficient 
stood and appreciated the peril of his po.sition, and to turn the head of an ambitious man — th:it, unmov- 
thc vastness of the results dependant on the choice ed by all these things, he retained hisunallccted sim- 
which he might make between these alternatives, plicity of mannei and of action, sincerely expressing 
there exists documentary proof But he made his his unwillingness to engage in party strife, or to be 
choice. Headvancid to meet the coming blow. He separated from his cherished hope of returning to the 
fought and won the Battle of Buena Vista. bosom of his family, there to end his days in peace 

With what solemnity of feeling, mingling with his and quiet. To all applications to him to allow his 
high sense of imperative duty, he engaged in that name to be usetl as a candidate for the Presidency, 
conflict, evidence is atVorded by letters written by whilst the war continued, he replied in terms corres- 
himself to relatives and friends on the evening beibre ponding with those of the first letter ever written by 
the battle came off. In those letters, the substance him in reference to this subject, viz: 'i'hat, though 
ofwhicli has transpired, he stated the lea.sonstiiat had feehng very grateful to his fellow-citiz ns who had 
determined him to give battle to the enemy. These expressed a desire to place him in nomination for the 
were, that, the Mexican army having just crossed a; Presidency, it became him frankly to acknowledge 
great desert, their forces both in men and horses must that he had no aspiration for that office; but that, 
be in a condition so exhausted as much to impair their even if an a.spirant for the Presidency, (which he was 
capacity for physical exertion: that, on the other not,) he could ii'it, whilst the country wa.s involved 
hand, he himself held a strong position, well adapt- in war, and whilst his duty called upon him to take 
ed to enabh^ him to repel a su]>erior force, in wliicli pirt against the enemy, acknowledge any ambition 
alone he could hope successfully to contend with the lieyond that of bestowing all his best exertions to- 
imincnse oiids against him: that, should he quit his wards obtaining an adjustment of our difiicultics with 
position and fall back upon Monterey, as he had been Mexico. And when, at last, his consent to serve as 
advised to do, Santa Anna might, with so superior President, if elected, was extorted from him, it was 
a force, hem him up in Monterey, while he swept given in langnage entirely •consistent with what wo 
every poHt from thence to the mouth of the Kio Grande, have already seen of his character. " If i have been. 
Thus would he wrested from us all the advantages named by other.'--, and considered a candicate for the 
we had gainexl, our country injured, and her honor Presidency," .said he, "it has been by no agency of 
tarnished Such, he believed, would be the di.sas- mine in the matter; ■dni\, if ihv giod pep 'e think my 
irons and humiliating con8(;(|ucncesof a retreat. //^ services important in that station, and elect me, I will 
therefore resolved to iiKtintain his /to.'^ilion at «// feel bound to serve them; and all the pledges and ex- 
haziifdi/, with a dettrminution to die rutin r than to planations I can enter into and make, as regards this 
suffer the Jhig of his country to he disgraced while or that policy, is, that I will do so honestly and faith- 
under Ids care. In order t > make a successfid de- fully, to the best of my abilities, strictly in compli- 
fcuce with a force auch sm his, it woul I be necessary ancc with the constitution." 



OF GEKEBAli ZACHARY TAYLOH. 



Having thus been led to speak of Gen. Tatloii's with Fort Brown: If the enemy oppose my march^ 
consent to his name lieing used in reference to the (Vi lohat ever force, 1 shall fight him." 
office of President, this is the fit place in which to' Our limits allow us hut little room to speak with 
say all that we propose to say of his politics. In the any fullness of those individual features of General 
very first letter written by himinieply to the applica- Tavloii's character, known to us from unquestion- 
tions to allow his name to be usen, he himself avow- able authority, which go to show his rare personal 
«d his political sentiments. "Although no politician, worth. A few brief allusions to them must suffice, 
having always held myself aloof from the clamor of Gen. Taylor is a man of business habits. We 
party politics," said he, "I am a Whig, and shall have it upon the authority of Gen. Mahshall that 
ever be devoted in individual opinion to the princi- during his service in Mexico he was never known to 
pies if that parly." Asfar back as the year 1840, give up a day to pleasure. No one ever visited his 
we know, that, though at the time in active service, 'quarters without seeing evidence of the industry 
and therefore not voting, he felt a deep interest in the with which he toiled. If his talented Adjutant was 
election uf Gen. Hauuisox, and rejoiced, in his surrounded ly papers, so was the General. And, 
quiet way, in the event of that eltjction, us sincerely though he would salute a visitor kindly, and bid him 
as any man in the nation. At the more recent elec- vvith familiar grace to amuse himself until he was at 
tion of President (in 1 844} he has declared, under leisure, he never would interrupt the duties which his 
his own hand, that " he was decidedly in favor of station called him to perform. 

Mr. Clay's election, and that he would prefer now i In his association with Officers, the General was 
seeing him in that office to any individual in the at all times frank and unreserved. Wo unnecessary 
Union." And, being released from active service in mystery shrouded the proceedings at Headquarters, 
the field, the war being virtually over, he made an 'All of his movements were straightforward, prompt, 
exposition of his poUtical principles, in his Allison 'and efficient ; and, when once his mind was mad& 
letter, which proved him to be every inch a Whig, up, no ordinary circumstance could effect a change, 
and, as far as politics are concerned, fully justified No vaccillation or want of determination ever exhibit- 
the nomin;)tion which he subsequently received in ed itself What he said, be meant; alwn} j sincere, 
that character from the Whig National Convention, and, above all things, truthful. 

Judged by all we know of him, there is no sounder | When the ceremonies of the capitulation of Mon- 
Whig in the country than he. terey took place, the greater part of both armies 

As to Gen. Tarloii's abilities, if not of the high- were present at tlie exchange of flags at the citadel; 
«st cultivation, they arc far above mediocrity. If he but, although the General was there, he was not at 
has never graduated at any college, he has deeply all conspicuously so. Indeed, from his retired posi- 
studied human nature, and taken his degrees in the tion, one would have taken him for a mere spectator 
school of practical wisdom. Though not a Master of what others had achieved. In his ride to town 
of Arts, he is master of many things th;it will be that morning, ;: ••^■stance of three milts, not one word 
more available than a diploma in the execution of the 'of exultation escaped him. But he greatly grieved 
duties of the Presidential office. He has always over the heavy loss we had sustained in the three 
been fond of reading, and his mind is well stored days' fight' ig. 

with useful information. With a tenacious memory, ! At the battle of Buena Vista (says Col- Davis) 
he recollects all that he reads. An evidence of this when the day seemed, if not lost, to be going against 
remarkable memory of his is the fact that, in the nur arms, Gencial Tayloh, amidst the thickest of 
course of his service, he has never been at fault in the iron hail, rode upon the platpau and calmly sur- 
calling an officer's name: once introduced, he ha.'^ vnyed the scene. Vast as were the consequences of 
ever after not only known t'.ie man, but his name. ; thut hour, he appeared to fear no danger, expect no 

A historical reference by Gen. Taylor, though on harm. The excitemr.^ of the carnuge over, the 
a minor point, which astonished the officers uround same soul that could remain unmo ed when his 
him— from one of whom we received it — will serve friends were falling like leaves around l.im, which 
to show the extent of his reixling. When convers- 'could look unblanched upon the front of the thun- 
ing about Captain Butler, of the 3d Dragoons, dering artillr-y, became the poor soldier's most sym- 
(grandson of Col. Pif.uce Bdtlkh, of South Curo- pathizing friend; and the eye, so stern in battle, was 
lina, who died in Mexico,) the General at once re- as mild as the tender hearted matron's, 
marked that the family of Butler was Irish, and de ! No one, says General Mahsuall. who had seen 
scended from the Ormond family, and of the Duke of; General Tayloh, after the baitle of -'Buena Vista," 
Ormond he told many anecdotes. The gentleman as he ordered the wagons to bring in the Mexican 
from whom we had this anecdote having expresses' wounded from the battle-field, and heard him as he 
to one of the General's Staff, who was present, his at once cautioned his own men that the wounded 
surprise at his pos-es.^ing this sort of information, the were to be treated with mercy, could doubt that he 
latter laughingly replied that he him.-elf had often was alive to all the kinder impulses of our nature, 
been surprised, when at Fort Scott, at the General's His conduct in sparing the deserters from our own 
frequent and appropriate allusions to historical facts, army who were captured at Buena Vista, exhibited 
especially in reference to the history of Great Britain, at the same time, in a remarkable manner, his be- 
As to the General's sfholarship, it would hardly be nevolcnce and his judgment. "Don't shoot them," 
fair to cite in evidence the diction of his despatches, said he; "the worst punishment I will inflict is to 
in preparing which, of course, his accomplished Stafl" return them to the Mexican army." 
would have had seme share. But the /rfeas- of those No act of oppression has ever been charged upon 
despatches are all his own. No one but himself General Taylor. No man paid the penalty of 
could have said, writing to the War Department death by martial law from the time he fougut at Palo 
from Point Isabel, " I shall march this day with the Alto to the time he left Buena Vista. He controlled 
£iain body of the army to open a communication and guided the army without bloodshed, maintaintd 



6 



PERSONAL CHARACTER AND QUALITIES 



'ts honor and discipline, and retired without having ness, of repubUcan simpHcity; a man loved and trust- 
done any act to sully the character he had ever sus- ed by all that have ever approached him, but espe- 
tained as a humane as well as able man. When cially commanding, in proportion as there was danger 
the Government chided him for not storming Mon- or difliculty, an unbounded confidence. In the other, 
tcrey and its twelve thousand men, with his five what is tliere to beget, even at this latu-r end of in- 
thousand, what was his reply i" "Yes," he said, "I dividual eminence among the Locofoco party, any 
could have taken it in that vvay, but I did not want favor but that of faction, any admiration but of fol- 
to sacrifice the women and children." When he lowers who in his success see the hope of then- own > 
was feted in New Orleans, a friend, alluding to the In Genera! Tayloh tliere must be singularly strong 
splendid pageant which wound through the streets native qualities for wisely and rightly commanding 
of the city, said to him that "it must have been very men, else how should he have been a leader so dar- 
gratifying to him." "No," said he, "it was not. ing yet prudent, .so well-obeyed and yet so idolized, 
I was afraid .--ome of the women and children might so careless of all reserve and outward state, yet so 
be hurtl" thoroughly respected i* Does any body suppose that 

Though bred to Avar, inured to its toils and hard- all these indisputable effects— tiic unsought affection 
ships, and owing his present conspicuous position to which he attracts from all, the boundless reliance 
his ability and success in that vocation, he is a de- with which all look to him in the extreme of peril — 
voted friend of Peace. At a dinner given to him on can be brought about, except by the possession of a 
his retui-n from Mexico, he declared, in response to true superiority? Stranger as he is to all the arts 
a complimentan.' toast, that "The joy and cxulta-; which awe men, to all the tricks which set off great- 
lion of the greatest victories were always, after the i ness, the thing is impossible. Good as he is brave, 
heat and excitement of battle, succeeded' i^ /ff/mgs mild as he is resolute, admirably compounded of 
of poigncmi sorrow and pain, and, that war, a//er i prudence to decide and of valor to act, of ardor in 
all, wan A CHEAT CALAMITY, und his the greutni^i^c fight with the most unmoved self-possession; 
ghry wlio could ierntinate it." gentle without any known trait of weakness; as 

Again; In a letter to the Hon. Trvmax Smith, straightforward as he is discreet, familiar without 
of the House of Representatives, dated Baton Rouge, ^ever lessening the respect which he inspires, inflexi- 
March 4tl!, 1848, he .^aid: ble without austerity, the man evidently commands, 

1 need hardly reply to your concluding inquiry, that I through the native ascendency of his character alone, 
I AM A FKACF. MAN, and that I deem a state of peace to md guides others by an instmctive wisdom equal to 
he alsohttdii iieccssart/ to ttie proper and heulhfiil <ic//on i every emeieencj' — a natural sagacity which exhiliit- 
o/ our rtfublican ivtslituliovy.. On this iniformni ques-'jng jtspif ,jot in words but action, all about him feel 
tion I frerly confess my.^elf to be the unqualified ad vo- ^^.j,^,. jj^_^,^ ^^ ^^^ j^,jing_ 

Gate 01 the principles .«o often laid down by the lather, ,^ , "ii ^ j ^ • -i • » 

of his country, and s„ urger,tly recommended l)y him' ^^ ^s yet withou direct civil experience we at 
in his FaievNeli Address to the American people. In i 'east know that he has looked wi.scly enough upon 
deed, I [hmk I may taiely say that 7io man can put a the general course of public affairs to have chosen, 
viore implicit forth than 1 do in the rvif^dom of his advice, hetv/een parties, the most Conservative; between 
whe77 lie vrsed vponys the propriety of alvays ^^"(/"'g^^^eonc.?, that which the maturer mind only confirms; 
■upon our own soi . • between men, him above all whom true service and 

And again, in his letter to Captain Allison, he ^gt personal success has crowned, 'i'he general 

'" • knowledge of public questions he therefore clearly 

'' My tue has been devoted to 0Tv^s,yet I lool< upon war, ^^^^^^^; ^^ ^^ particular measures, we should 
at all times U7id under all cnctntislaiices, AS A NATIONAL ^ i r • .i • . •. „f i ; i, ,.,,t .i, ;, .„; 

CALAiaiTV, to be avoded if comr.aiihie with national ff^^ 'l''*'^ '" "'« ^•''^••'^ "^^'^Sn'y «', '"^ ^'""l^^^'': "''"'; 
honor. The prmciples of our Govermneut, as icell as its , »i^e lacuity oi going exactly right, wbu h distinguish 
true polity, (lie o]>]jo.-(d to the subjugation of OTiiKiiihim so much; and especially wc should rely on hiui 
NATIONS, AND TUK DISMEMBERMENT OF OTUKR couN- as oiic who will iiot act till he Understands, has ever 
TRiKd oy conqtiest." Icnown how to take counsel, and has never yet, in 

What pledges, then, of a man .sure, in a situation any instance that we can recall, taken any counsel! 
however difficult, to be faithful, firm, and single- but the best. But, besides, it is as little General 
hearted in his utmost duties, has Zachahy Tatloii Taylor's theory as our own that every tiling should 
not given, from Fort Harrison to Buena Vista, from rest on the Presidential opinions, right or wrong, 
the tent to the farm, through his lung life of effi- 1 informed or uninformed: he will have modesty 
ciency in action, of moderation in command, of mo ei'iough not to consider the nation's whole intelli- 
dcsty in the nddst of victories* What auguries are gcncc centered in his single person; he is republican 
there, in his entire career, which must not make his enough not to set up his individual will as entitled 
arrival at the Presidency an event full oJ'hope to all to override every thing ci.se, and call that domineer- 
good men, of confusion and dismay to all that organ- i»o-, that more tiuin kingly arrogance, Dkmockacy, 
ized coiruption and incapacity w Inch have ruled us: the Phoghess, tiii; LAn(;i;sT Lihehtv. 
so long, not governing but despoiling u.s, not up-j As, in .short, between him and his more pratiscd 
holding but afilicting the general weal, not executing adversary. General Cass, who can hesitate.? Who 
but only jiaititioning out public trusts' \^ ho that will take a man because he lias been tried, when, 
regards the country at all, or bis own well-being as a as we have had occasion to show, he is only the less 
part of that of the land at large, can hc.«itatc how to' to be trusted in proportion as he has been tried. If 
choose between men so opposite' In the one, there the having borne a long part in puhlic afllnrs is only 
is clearly ev(Ty thing "to give the world assuarancc' to teach men what he has learnt — how to be more 
of a man;" a l^part pcrfi-ctly brave, sincere, untouch and more a denuigcgue and a dc^lructivc the older ho 
ed by any of the corruptions of civil life, unhardencd grows — give us, at least, a man unpractised, unso- 
by the habits of ihilitary; full of kindliness and hu- phisticatcd, whose heart rctauis its original vvarmlh, 
manily to all men; a true model, almost to homcli its primitive integrity, its undissipatcd vision.'J of 



said: 



OP GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



public duty and honor; give us one whose under-' Wc know no industry, no branch of trade— except 
standing is _vet uncorrupt, plain, manly, guided only "annexation" and office hunting— that may riot 
by a powerful common sense. God defend us from expect to flourish under Gen. Taylou: we know of 
the shallow speculatist, the statesman of untried ex- no honest and peaceful domestic pursuit, no useful 
periments, the propagators of Freedom by the sword, art, no important public interest, which the election 
the small phiiosophizers in government, and above of Gen. Cass will not deeply injure. M'c know no 
all, Irom politicians of (he Mexico, Yucatan, and man more j)ledgcd than he to upset for us whatever 
Fifty-four forty sort, who would have us now Con- of policy, or law or constitutioij, or quiet or charac- 
querois, now Crusaders, a Nation of lire eaters ! ter, Mr. Polk has spared. 



GENERAL TAYLOR'S FIRST LETTER TO CAPTAIN ALLI-ON. 

Batoh RovGK, April 22, I8i8. I sideration by Congress. Indeed, 1 bave thougbt that 
Dear Sir: My opinions have recently bcea .so, for many years past the known opinions and wishes of 
often misfoiiceived and niisrepre>enied, thai 1 deem it the Execulive have exerci.sed undue aud injurious in- 
due to myself, if not to my friends, to make a brief ex- lluence upon tlie legislative department of !he Govern- 
posiiion of them upon the topics to vvliich you have ment; aud for tliis cause I have thougiit uur system 
called my attention. . was in danger of undergoing a great change from its 

I have consented to the use of my name as a candi- ' t^ theory. The personal opinmns of the Individual 
«ate for tiie Presidency. 1 have frankly ai-owed my wfto may happen to occupy the Executive chair, ought 
own distrust of my fitness for that high station; but not to com rol the action of Cougie^s upon ipieslions of 
having, at the solicitation of many of my countrymen, domestic policy; nor ought his objections to be inter- 
taking my position as a candidate. 1 do not feel at liber- posed where (jue-stions of constitutional power have 
ty to surrender that position until ray friends manifest been settled by the various departments of Govern- 
a wish that I should retire from it. I will then most mem, and acquiesced in by the people, 
gladly do so. I have no private purposes to accomplish, Third.— Upon the subject of tlie tariff, the currency 
no party projects to build up, no enemies to pumsh — the improvement of our great highways, rivers lakes' 
nothing to serve but my country. and harbors, the will of the people, as expressed 

I have been very often addressed by letter, and my ^through their representatives in Congress, ought to be 
opinions have been asked upon almost every iiuestion respected and carried out by the Executive, 
that might occur to the writers as affecting tlie in er- Fourth. — The Mexican war. I sincerely rejoice at 
ests of their country or their parly. Ihave not always the prospect of peace. My life has been devoted to 
responded to these inquiries, for various reasons. arms, yet I look upon war at all times, and under all 

I confess, whilst 1 have great cardinal principles circumstances, as a national calamity, to be avoided if 
which will regulate my political life, lam not suffi- compatible with national honor. Tlie principles of our 
ciently faruiliar with all the minute details of political Government, as well as its true policy, are opposed to 
legislation to give solemn pledges to exert my in- the subjugation of other nations and the dismember- 
fluence, if I were President, to carry out this, or defeat ment of other countries by conqulst. In the languafe 
that measure. I have no concealment. I ho', ! no of the great Washington, '' Why should we quit our 
opinion which I would not readdy proclain to my as- own to stand on foreign ground." In the Mexican war 
sembled coimtryinen ; but crude impressions upon our national honor lias been vindicated, amply vindi- 
matters of policy, which may be right today and.cated; and in dictating terms of peace we may well 
wrong to-morrow, are, perhaps, not the best test of fit- afford to be forbearing and even magnanim.ous to our 
ness ior oflice. One who cannot be trusted without fallen foe. 

pledges, cannot be coufided in merely on account of '1 hese are my opinions upon the subjects referred to 
ibem. ^ by you, and any reports or publications, written' or 

I will proceed, however, now to respond to your in- verbal, from any source, differing in any essential par- 
quiries. , ticular from what is here written, are uiiauthorized and 

First — Jtreiterate what I have often said — I am a! untrue. 
Whig, but not an ultra Whig. If elected 1 would not; I do not know that I shall again write upon the sub- 
be the mere President of a party. I wou'.d endeavor ject of national politics. I shall engage in no schemes, 
lo act independent of party domination. I should feel no combinations, no intrigues. If the American people' 
bound to administer the Government untrammelled by have not confidence in me, they ought not to give me 
party schemes. ! their sufiiages. If they do not, you know me well 

Second.-- The veto power. The power given by enough to believe me when I declare I shall be con- 
the Couiititution to the Executive to interpose his veto, tent. I am too old a soldier to murmur against such 
is a high conservative power ; but in my opinion should high authority. ^Z. TAYLOR. 

never be exercised except in cases of clear violation 'I'o Capt. J. S. Allison. 
of the Confiitution, or manifest haste and want of con- i 



GENERAL TAYLOR'S LAST LETTER TO CAPTALN ALLISON. 

East Pascagoula, Sept. 4, 1848. 'that I occupy an equivocal attitude towards the vari- 
Dear Sir : On the 22d duy of April last, 1 address- ; ous parties into which the people are divided, and es- 
fd you a letter explaining my views in regard to vari- \ pecially towards the Whig party as represenie'd by the 
uus matters of public policy, lest my fellow-citizens iNational Convention which assembled in Philadelphia 
-night be misled by the many contradictory and con- in June las;. Had theie letters and scraps of letters 
ilictiiig statements in respect to them which appeared been published or construed in connection with what 
in the journals of the day, and were circulated throng- I have heretofore said upon this subject, I should not 
out the country. I now find myself misrepresented now have to complain of the speed with which my 
a!id misunderstood upon another point, of such import- answers to isolated questions have been ".ven up to 
ance to myself personally, if not lo the country at large, the capUnus criticism of those who have "been made 
as to claim from me a candid and connected exjiosi- my enemies by a nomination which has been tendered 
tion of my relations to the public m regard to the pend- ' o me without solicitation or arrangement of mine, or of 
ing presidential canvass. ( the manner in which selected passages in some of ray 

The utmost ingenuity has been expended upon sev- j letters, written in the freedom and carelessness of a 
eral letters and detached sentences of letters, which confidential correspondence, have been communicated, 
have recently appeared over ray signature to show to the public pre.'ss. But riveu from the context, and 



8 



GEXERAL Taylor's last letter to captain allison. 



separated from a series of explanatory facts and cir- , views upon questions of national policy, that I feltcon- 
eumstanoes which are, in so far as this canvass is con-! strained to correct the errors into which the public 
cerned, historical, they are as deceptive ns though they mind was falling by a more t ;ilicit cunciation of 
were positive fabrications. I address you this letter to principles, which I (hd in my letter to vou in April last. 
correct the injustice that has been done me, and the That letter, and the facts which I have doiailed as 
public to tlie extent that I am an object of interest to briefly as a proper understanding of them would per- 
them, by this illiberal process. mit, developed my whole posilior. in relation to the 

I shall niit weary you by an elaborate recital of Presidencv at the time, 
every incident connected with the first piesentation of The Democratic Convention met in May, and com- 
my name as a candidate for the Presidency. I w;is posed their ticket to .'uit them. This they had a right 
then at the head of the American army in the V'alley to do. The National Whig Convention met in June, 
of the Rio Grande. I was surrounded by Whigs and and selected me as their candidate. I accepted the 
Pemocrals who had stood by me in the trying hours of nomination with gratiti'd-? and with pride. I was proud 
my life, and whom it was my destiny to conduct through of the confidence of s-ucli a body Oi men representing 
scenes of still greater trial. My duty to that army, such a constituency as the Whig party of the United 
and to the Republic whose battles we were waging, States — a manifestation the more grateful because it 
forbade my assuming a position of seeming hostility to was not cumbered with fxactions incompatible with 
any portion of the brave men under my command — the dignity of the p esidential office, and the rceponsi- 
all of wlioiu knew 1 was a Whig in princip.e, for I bilities of its incumbent to the wUole people of the na- 
made no concealment of my political sentiments or tion. And I may add, that these emotions were in- 
predilections. creased by associating my name with that of the dis- 

Such hnd been the violence of party struggle^^u- tingiiislied citizen of N^w York, whose acknowledged 
Ting our late PresidcBtial elections, that the acceptance abilities and soi.iid conservative opinions might have 
of a nomination under the rigorous interpretations giveri justly entitled him to the first place on the ticket, 
to the obligations (if a candidate prerented to the pub- 'I'he Convention adopted me as it found me — a 
lie with a lormulary of politi'al principle.', was equiva- WLig — decided, but not ultra in my opinions; and I 
lent almost to a declaration of uncompromisit;^ enmity should be without excu-3 if I were to shift the rela- 
te all who did not subscribe to its tenets I was un- tionsliips which subsisted at the time. They took me 
■willing to liazard the effect of such relationship to- witii the declaration of principles 1 had published to. 
wards any of the soldiers under my command when in Ilie world, and I should be without defence if I were 
front of an enemy common to us all. it would have to say or do any thing to impair the force of that de- 
been unjust in itself, and it was as repugnant to my claration. 

own feelings as it was to my duty. I wanted unity 1 have said that I would accept the nomination from 
in the army, and forbore any act that might sow the Democrats; but in so doing I would not abate one jot 
seeds of distrust and discord in its ranks. I have not or title of my opinions as written down. Such a iio- 
jny letters written at the time before rrie, but they are mination, as indicating a coincidence of opinion on th& 
all of one import, and in conformity with the views part of those making it, should not be regarded with: 
herein expressed. disfavor by those wlio think with me ; as a compliment 

Meanwhile I was solicited by my personal friends per.'^onal to myself, it should not be exjjected that I 
and by strangers, by Whigs and Democrats, to consent would repulse tUem with insult. I shall not modify 
to become a candidate. 1 was nominated by the peo- my views to entic them to my side : I shall not reject 
pie in primary assemblies — by Whigs, Democrats, and their aid when they join my friends voluntanly. 
jNatives, in separate and mixed meetings. I resisted 1 have said 1 was not a party candi('ate, nor am I in 
them all, and continued to do so till led to believe that that straighteried and sectarian sense which would pre- 
my opposition was assuming the aspect of a defiance vent my being the President of the whole people, in 
of the popular wishes. I yielded only wlicn it looked case of my eliH tion. I did not regard myself as one 
like presumption to resist longer, and even then 1 before the Convention met, and tliat body did not seek 
should no! hi'vedoneso had not the nomination been to make me different from what I was. 'I'hey did not 
presented to me in a form unlikely to awaken aciimo- fetter mc down to a scries of pledges w (licli were to be- 
ny or reproduce the bitterness of feeling which attends an iron rule of action in all, and in despite of all, the 
popular elections. I say it in sincerity and truth that contingencies that might arise in the course of a presi- 
a part of the inducement to my consent was the hope dential term. 1 am not engaged te lay viol nt hands 
that by going into the canvass it would be conducted indiscriminately upon puhlir officers, good or bad, who 
vith candor if not with kindness. It has been no fault may differ in opinion wiih M.e. I am not expected to- 
of mine that this anticipation has proved a vain one. force Congress, by the coerci m of the veto, to jiase- 
After 1 perniitlcd myself to be announced for the laws to suit me or pass none. '1 ,iis is what 1 mean by 
Presidency, under the circumstances above noticed, 1 not being a party candidate. And i understand this is- 
accepled nomination after nomination in ilie spirit in good Whig doctiine — 1 would not be a 7x;ra'.<an Presi- 
•which they were tendered. They were made irrespec- dent and hence should not be a party candidate in the- 
tive of parties, and so acknowledged. No one who sense that would make one. 'J'liis is the sum andsub* 
joined in those nominations could have been deceived stance of my meaning, and this is the purport of the- 
as to my political views. Fn)m the beginning till now^ facts and circumstances attending my nomination, when 
I have declared myself to be a Whig on all proi>or oc- considered in iheir connection with, and dependence 
rasions. With thih distinct avowal oubhshed to the upon, one ai.other. 

•world, I did not think that I Imd a right to lepel nomi- ] 1 refer all persons, who are anxious on the subject,, 
nations from political opponents any more tl.uii I had a to this sloiement for the proper understanding of uiy 
right to reluso ihe vole of a Democrat at the polls : and position towards the Presidency and the people. If it 
J proclaimed it abroad that 1 should not reject the profits not intelligible, I cannot make it so. and shall cea£e 
fered vupj^ort of any body of my fellow-ciiizcns. This 'to attempt it. 

was my p)silioii when in November last I returned to! In taking leave of the subject, I have only to add 
the United Slates ; long before either of the great divi- 1 that my two letters to you embrace all ilie topics 1 de- 
Monij of the people had held a national Lonvention, i sign to speak of iiciuhng this canvass, if 1 am elected, 
and when it was tliought doubtful if one of them 1 shall do all that an honest zeal may elfsct to cement 
would hold any. the bonds of our Union and establish the happiness of 

Matters stood in this attitude till spring, when there; my coiinlrymeii upon an enduring basis. 
were so many staieiiienis in circulation concerning myj To Capl. J. S. Allison. _ Z. TAYLOR. 

Towtiis, priiii'T. Wti'^iiingtoii, 



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